Safeguarding Yourself In Your Workplace

By Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley
Pride Guest Writer

Every year tens of thousands of workers are injured or develop an occupational related illness at work every day in Canada.

Even worse there are still a number of fatalities that occur within the workplace and although the numbers are decreasing year over year, it’s a still an unacceptable reality that workers are getting harmed on the job.

In an effort to affect change, the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Labour (MOL) made some recent changes to the Occupational Health & Safety Act.

According to the MOL, “Beginning July 1, 2014, employers in Ontario must ensure that all their workers and supervisors complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program. The content of the training must meet the new regulatory requirements.

The Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation (O. Reg. 297/13) under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is the new regulation that requires employers to make sure workers and supervisors complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness training program.”

The training is available for free on the MOL’s website in an e-learning format where an individual can complete the training online and print or save the certificate to show proof of completion.  In addition to this there are workbooks in several languages that can be ordered for free or printed from the website.

Most employers going forward will want candidates to have completed this mandatory training before working for them so it’s a great idea to complete the Worker and/or Supervisor Awareness training and add this to your resume or application.

Taking both levels of the training shows even if someone only need the worker training is a good idea and further enhances understanding health & safety at the workplace and how all workplace parties must work together to make the workplace safer.

Part of this training is making sure that all workers in the province have a basic understanding of health and safety but also what resources are available to them outside of the workplace.

Most workers are afraid to speak up or to report something to the Ministry of Labour when something unsafe is happening in their workplace and has gone unresolved for too long.

The government wants to make sure that you know you are not alone and there is help beyond the workplace.

By participating in Health and Safety and making sure proper training and understanding of the hazards in the workplace can help prevent serious injury in the future.

Of course we all have a role to play to make the workplace safer and being involved, reporting hazards and not walking by something unsafe are some of the simple ways one can help prevent injuries and illness caused in the course of employment.

For more information on the H&S awareness training go to the Ministry of Labour’s website through this link. www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/training/index.php While on the website, look around and learn more about health and safety and how one can participate and be a part of the solution.

Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley is a Certified Registered Safety Professional.